Analysis: Debate contrasts styles of leadership

Sunday

Sep 28, 2008 at 12:01 AM

WASHINGTON — John McCain and Barack Obama put their contrasting leadership styles on display as they staged what amounted to an audition for president during the great financial bailout debate of 2008.

LIZ SIDOTI

WASHINGTON — John McCain and Barack Obama put their contrasting leadership styles on display as they staged what amounted to an audition for president during the great financial bailout debate of 2008.

Their vast differences:

McCain tends to be action-oriented and given to dramatic gestures. He listens to his gut instinct and rattles off ideas. He can also come across as impulsive and temperamental.

Obama strikes a reflective and cautious pose. He collects information and labors over pros and cons. He is so studious that he sometimes appears detached and indecisive.

Republican McCain can be too hot, Democrat Obama too cool.

Does a nation facing both domestic crisis and international conflict need McCain's passion or Obama's calm?

Neither demeanor is wrong, yet neither works in every circumstance the next president will face.

Over the past two weeks as banks failed and markets tanked, both candidates' actions have provided a window into how each could lead in the White House.

Politics certainly was at play in their postures, given that there's little more than five weeks before the election. But so were leadership mechanics shaped from McCain's experiences in negotiating rooms over nearly three decades in Congress and Obama's time debating in academic, legal and state legislative arenas.

"Their initial reactions were following their personal scripts," said Paul C. Light, a New York University professor of organizational studies and public service.

So, too, their debate performances Friday at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

"We've got fundamental problems in the system. And Main Street is paying a penalty for the excesses and greed in Washington, D.C., and on Wall Street," an emotive McCain said, seemingly trying to tap into Americans' anger without getting overheated.

His tone measured, the cerebral Obama appeared to try to come across as thoughtful, not professorial. "We have to move swiftly, and we have to move wisely. And I've put forward a series of proposals that make sure that we protect taxpayers," Obama said.

A day earlier in a private White House summit, their public styles seemed to reverse. Obama was the active candidate, McCain not nearly as much, according to participants who described the private meeting.

Despite his junior status in Congress, the first-term Illinois senator was given the authority to take the lead for Democrats by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He peppered drafters of the administration's plan with questions. At one point, Obama said it was time to hear from McCain.

The GOP nominee was silent for much of the session. A veteran at Capitol Hill negotiations, McCain is mindful of seniority and was outranked. He deferred to House GOP leader John Boehner and other senior Republicans. Aides said McCain also didn't want to get into the "contentious shouting match."

When McCain spoke, it simply was to voice support for the general principles offered by House Republican critics of the administration's proposal, and urge a resolution that could satisfy the concerns of all parties.

As the crisis began, McCain was aggressive in offering a bunch of solutions, making him seem all over the map at times but also engaged in the mess.

The Republican called for stricter financial industry regulations. He essentially advocated the firing of the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, though the president has no such power. He outlined recommendations for stabilizing markets. And, he urged the creation of a commission modeled on the one after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to investigate potential Wall Street wrongdoing.

Obama was more reserved.

He rehashed economic plans he's been talking about for months and backed giving "broad authority" to the Treasury Department to deal with crisis. He promised fresh ideas to calm the meltdown — but then said he wouldn't spell out details to avoid roiling the markets. Rather, he was careful and waited to flesh out proposals until after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson did.

The candidates acted in dramatically opposite fashions as Congress haggled with the Bush administration over its $700 billion bailout plan.

In a move that came as polls showed him trailing Obama, McCain announced he would halt campaign events, fundraising and advertising to return to Washington to try to help negotiate a compromise, and he called for a delay in Friday's debate.

"The debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol — and I intend to join it," McCain said. Though his campaign activities were scaled back, they did not entirely stop. And, McCain's intervention either hurt or helped, depending on who was judging.

Obama balked at McCain's challenge and preferred to stay at arm's length from the negotiations. He said the debate in Mississippi should go on because the country needed to hear from both candidates and presidents need to "deal with more than one thing at once."

"My preference is to use the phone," Obama said, "in a way that's not a photo op because I think that sometimes prevents things from getting done."

In the end, both candidates ended up back in Washington for a day, the debate was held — and the jury was out on whose leadership style was best suited for this crisis and others.